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Saturday, July 9, 2016

Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh defends tweet threatening "war" on Obama

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Walsh, a former tea party congressman from Illinois and now a conservative talk radio host, tweeted in the wake of the Dallas shootings, "3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded. This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you."

Walsh later explained on Twitter that he wasn"t calling for violence against Obama or Black Lives Matter activists. But he told CNN"s Don Lemon Friday night that he stands by his words and that Twitter "shut me down."

"Twitter said the only way you"ll open your account is if we get rid of that tweet," Walsh claimed.

Twitter would not comment on Walsh"s claims, citing privacy and security reasons. But spokesman Nu Wexler noted a Twitter policy that says users "may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism."

Lemon asked Walsh if he stood by his words on Twitter.

"Yeah. Oh, absolutely, because I stand by what I meant, Don," Walsh said. "I didn"t intend to say everybody go threaten Barack Obama or incite violence against Barack Obama. I don"t know of a sane person that would do that. That"s not what I meant, Don."

He told Lemon he made that remark because he"s "p****d off" and "there really is a war on our cops."

"The last couple of years, Barack Obama has done nothing but hate on cops. Accusing cops of being bad and racist," Walsh said, citing Obama"s comments in the wake of Philando Castile"s shooting death in Minnesota. The President had said minorities are more likely to be pulled over, searched or shot at by police.

"But that"s not accusing cops of being racist," Lemon countered. "He"s actually pointing out a fact there is systemic racism in this country and there are police departments that need to be reformed."

"He said cops were racist," Walsh replied. "Think about this. He said cops were racist after he found out that a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri, attacked a cop. Instead of going after the young black man who attacked a cop, he criticized the cop and Don, ever since then, ever since we"ve had one of these incidents, his impulse, his reflex, is always to go after the cop. Always."

Walsh added, "When he said there"s systemic racism in the police department after the Minneapolis shooting, he"s telling people on the streets that police officers are racist. Now, maybe you and I can make that distinction, but when people on the street hear the President of the United States time after time say that there is racism in police departments all over the country, man, that kind of hating leads to what you got in Dallas."

Five Dallas law enforcement officers were shot and killed by a sniper at a protest over police violence in the deadliest attack on law enforcement since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The protest was part of a national wave spurred by back-to-back police shooting deaths of two African-American men.

Walsh"s tweet Thursday night went viral after New York Times reporter Matthew Rosenberg spotted the deletion early Friday morning and urged people to retweet it.

"Joe Walsh decided to delete this tweet. So let"s all retweet it," Rosenberg tweeted. By 8 a.m. ET Friday morning, it had been retweeted more than 20,000 times.

Walsh later explained on Twitter, early Friday morning, that, "I wasn"t calling for violence, against Obama or anyone. Obama"s words & BLM"s deeds have gotten cops killed. Time for us to defend our cops."

Friday afternoon, Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King also criticized Obama over the shootings, tweeting that the Dallas incident "has roots in first of anti-white/cop events illuminated by Obama...Officer Crowley. There were others."

King was apparently referring to Cambridge, Massachusetts, police Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested prominent black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in 2009 following a report of a break-in at Gates" home. Obama attracted controversy at the time when he said police "acted stupidly" during the episode.

CNN"s Ashley Killough and Daniella Diaz contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/politics/joe-walsh-obama-war-tweet/

Miesha Tate"s perseverance rewarded with UFC 200 star role

Miesha Tate explains weigh-in scare ahead of UFC 200

LAS VEGAS (AP) Until this year, Miesha Tate seemed destined to spend her career in Ronda Rousey"s shadow. She persevered for several years as the second-best fighter in her emerging sport, twice failing to stop Rousey"s remarkable rise to stardom.

Everything changed in the past few months after Tate finally got her break, choking Holly Holm unconscious to win the UFC bantamweight title.

And then this week, she got a few more breaks. Thanks to Jon Jones" positive drug test, Tate suddenly finds herself in the incredible position of fighting in the main event at the landmark UFC 200.

"It"s such a great opportunity to deliver an excellent performance and really represent women"s MMA," Tate said of the chance to fight on the main pay-per-view card. "That"s what I"m all about. I want to go out there and I want to defend my belt, and I want to make a statement that women"s MMA is awesome."

UFC 200 was absolutely stacked with stars even before Anderson Silva agreed to replace Jones on two days" notice against Daniel Cormier. Nine current or former UFC champions are on the biggest pay-per-view show of the summer.

But on a night also featuring Brock Lesnar"s return from a 4 1/2-month MMA absence and a tantalizing interim featherweight title bout between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, Tate"s bantamweight title defense against Amanda Nunes has been promoted to the main event Saturday. UFC President Dana White said he wanted to show respect to Tate, the only undisputed champion risking her belt.

"I feel there"s a lot pressure on me, but the thing that I really like about that is I know it," Tate said. "I accept it, and I know that I thrive well under pressure."

Just four months after winning the belt that Holm took from Rousey, Tate is on top of the 135-pound division at the moment it gets hit with mixed martial arts" brightest spotlight.

And then Tate (18-5) barely made weight Friday morning, desperately cutting ounces until she jumped on the scale moments before the deadline. After a few hours to hydrate, Tate was reinvigorated by the thought of fighting Nunes (12-4).

"I"m going to go out there (Saturday) and I"m going to rip her heart out of her chest and stomp on it," Tate said with a grin.

Not much has come easy for Tate, but she perseveres.

She picked up MMA in 2005 after a high school wrestling career, and she fought in a series of minor-league promotions for little more than pride.

Tate fought Rousey in 2012 and 2013, losing by armbar both times. She seemed stuck unable to beat the biggest star in the sport, but better than just about everybody else. But Tate kept grinding and won her next five fights.

When Holm thrashed Rousey, the star boxer seemed unbeatable but Tate beat her in March with patience and canny fighting skills, luring the superior striker into an inescapable choke. At 29, she was finally a champion.

Tate has been enjoying the spoils of her title, appearing on "Good Morning America" and "Conan." Yet she also turns down many more opportunities, including chances to add to her fledgling acting credits after appearing in a recent film.

Tate is mindful of the way Rousey"s public persona exploded shortly before Holm kicked her in the head and ended her title reign.

"You have to keep your eyes focused on the task at hand," Tate said. "You have to ask yourself, "What do I really want?" To me, the most important thing is to defend my belt. It"s not making movies. If those things can fall into place in a time when it makes sense, then great. But in the middle of my training camp, you"ve just got to tell them no."

Her current task is Nunes, a Brazilian veteran on a three-fight winning streak. Tate claims she was surprised when her next bout wasn"t a rematch with Holm, but she accepted the matchup.

She also hopes for a third fight with Rousey, who hasn"t fought since losing in November and shows little indication that she"s hungry to get back on the MMA grind.

"I would be disappointed if (Rousey) doesn"t come back, if I don"t get that opportunity," Tate said. "There would be a void that didn"t get filled. I hope that"s not the case. But if it is, life goes on."

UFC 200"s pay-per-view card begins with heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Travis Browne. The undercard features former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and several other title contenders alongside surefire crowd-pleasing fights featuring Joe Lauzon, Diego Sanchez, Jim Miller and Takanori Gomi.

Source: http://lewistownsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/1216682/Miesha-Tate-s-perseverance-rewarded-with-UFC-200-star-role.html?isap%3D1%26nav%3D5017

Tens of Thousands Attend Pakistani Philanthropist"s Funeral

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Tens of thousands of people attended the state funeral for Pakistan"s legendary philanthropist, Abdul Sattar Edhi, in Karachi on Saturday, officials said.

Thousands more couldn"t get to the stadium where the funeral was held with a military honor guard, said local government official Nasir Habib.

The 88-year-old charity worker died Friday after a prolonged illness.

Pakistan"s top civilian and army leadership offered funeral prayers at the stadium, as the country mourned the loss of a man commonly known as the "Angel of Mercy" for his internationally-acclaimed social work. A 19 gun salute was given, Pakistan"s army spokesman, Lt. Gen. Asim Bajwa, tweeted.

Edhi donated his eyes and asked his family to bury him in the clothes he wore at the time of his death, his son Faisal Eidhi said. As part of his commitment to living simply, Edhi would never own more than a few items of clothing and a pair of shoes, his son said.

Later in the day, Edhi was buried in the graveyard he established on the city"s outskirts for unclaimed bodies.

Despite the vast sums of money that passed through his charitable foundation, Edhi lived modestly with his family in a two-room apartment adjacent to the headquarters of his foundation.

He established the foundation almost six decades ago that he oversaw with his wife, Bilquis Edhi.

The foundation owns and runs Pakistan"s largest ambulance service, nursing homes, orphanages, clinics and women"s shelters, along with rehabilitation centers and soup kitchens.

His work earned him numerous awards at home and abroad, including the Gandhi Peace Award, the 2007 UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize, the 2011 London Peace Award, the 2008 Seoul Peace Award and the Hamdan Award for Volunteers in Humanitarian Medical Service.

Edhi never finished school but later said that the world of suffering became his tutor.

In Pakistan, tributes poured in for Edhi. "We the poor lost our father today," Rafiq Ahmad, a 45-year-old who attended the funeral, told reporters.

Associated Press Writer Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/tens-thousands-attend-pakistani-philanthropists-funeral-40455570

ESPYs Host John Cena Admits He"s Not the "Perfect" Boyfriend to Nikki Bella: "I Eff Up a Lot"

WWE: John Cena vs Triple H vs Edge

John Cena is a hero in the ring, but he"s human in real life. The WWE superstar, who will host the 2016 ESPY Awards on Wednesday, July 13, tells Us Weekly exclusively how he and girlfriend Nikki Bella make their relationship work despite their lives in the limelight.

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Cena, 39, says that he has something "extremely special" in the Total Divas star, 32, and points out that she doesn"t let his myriad female fans bother her. The pair have been dating since 2012.

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"Shes truly the love of my life, and she deserves to be treated as such," the Trainwreck actor tells Us. "Because were in the same industry, she truly understands that there will be fans that are looking for a different sort of admiration, but it takes two to be disrespectful, and I would like to think that in most every encounter, I try to treat her with as much respect as I can."

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"And Im not perfect," he continues. "I eff up a lot, but that always goes through my head, to try to treat her with respect."

Cena reveals that he is currently "full-blast in preparation mode" to get ready for his first time hosting the ESPYs, which honors the year"s athletic accomplishments. He hopes to give fans a "spectacular show" that is "inspirational and motivational."

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The hunky American Grit star, who is also set to host Fox"s Teen Choice Awards on July 31, says that he shed tears recently while watching a clip from the 2012 ESPYs of University of Tennessee Lady Vols basketball coach Pat Summitt accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Summitt died at age 64 on June 28, 2016, after battling Alzheimer"s.

"I was just watching some pieces today on that obviously because of the recent news the Pat Summitt piece as an Arthur Ashe recipient, and I just started crying my eyes out," he says. "Its a wonderful show that can get you to laugh and cry at the same time."

The ESPYs ceremony airs on ABC Wednesday, July 13, at 8 p.m. ET.

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Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/john-cena-is-not-a-perfect-boyfriend-i-eff-up-a-lot-w212472

Simone Biles Leads Olympic Trials, While Gabby Douglas Falters

Olympic Gymnastics Trials | Gabby Douglas Scores 14.650 On Floor

By Chrs McDougall | July 09, 2016, 2:30 a.m. (ET)

Simone Biles competes on the floor exercise at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials For Women"s Gymnastics at SAP Center on July 8, 2016 in San Jose, Calif.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Ashton Locklears knees began going numb. Madison Kocian started off her night a little jumpy. Simone Biles worried she might pass out in the middle of her floor routine.

The 12 gymnasts who competed in their first U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Friday night and the two returning Olympians tried to treat the event like any other competition. Ever-present signage and an energetic, sold-out crowd at the SAP Center made that difficult.

The energy in the arena was, like, ridiculous, said Biles, the three-time defending world all-around champion. Theres nothing you can compare it to; even worlds are not as hyped as that.

For Biles, whose score of 61.85 outpaced the first night of competition by a point, the key was a pep talk to herself before her floor exercise routine.

I was like, If I dont slow my adrenaline down Im probably going to pass out in the middle of this routine, she said.

The message, she said, was private. But it worked. Her floor score of 15.7 was the best of the night, and she also had the top vault score and the second-best balance beam score despite a sloppy landing on vault and nearly falling off the balance beam during a routine spin.

I tried to calm myself down as best as possible and tell myself Ive done this so many times, and its just another meet, she said, even though its the Olympic Trials, like the words are everywhere.

Biles, second-place Laurie Hernandez (60.85) and third-place Aly Raisman (59.95) came into the trials as favorites to make the five-person Olympic team, which will be named at the conclusion of the competition on Sunday night. Gabby Douglas, the defending Olympic all-around champion, was a heavy favorite too, although that standing might have slipped after a late fall on balance beam dropped her to seventh place on the night.

A focus coming into the trials was on the expected battle for the fifth Olympic spot, with uneven bars standouts Madison Kocian and Ashton Locklear the most likely contenders.

The adrenaline hit Locklear hardest before the pre-meet introductions, when each gymnast ran through a cloud of smoke to the screams of 17,904 fans.

I was like, Oh my gosh, is this it? she said. It was crazy.

Locklear, who only competes on bars and beam, found herself looking at U.S. Olympic Team Trials signs all around the arena and had to remind herself to calm down and focus.

For Kocian, that excitement from introductions carried into the first rotation, when she stepped out of bounds on a floor routine pass.

I tried to take deep breaths before each routine to slow down your breathing, slow down your nerves and everything, she said. And I think that helped me.

Both were ready for their marquee event.

Locklear, competing uneven bars in the second rotation, glided through her routine with her characteristic grace and elegance before sticking the dismount. Her score of 15.75 surpassed the two she posted last month when claiming the U.S. title at the P&G Gymnastics Championships in St. Louis.

The bar was set, and Kocian a 2015 world champion in the event matched it exactly in the third rotation. The 15.75 score was her highest of 2016.

Now their battle continues with the stakes even higher on Sunday.

I think that the energy of the crowd helped me a lot, Locklear said, and Im ready for Day 2.

Download the Team USA app today for breaking news, the latest Olympic roster, videos and more.

One gymnast who claimed to be unfazed by the gravity of the moment was Hernandez, who at age 16 is competing in her first season on the senior level.

Did she notice the attention?

Ehhh, kind of, not really, she said.

There was one instance just before performing on the balance beam when the moment did start to get to her, she admitted. Though, in retrospect, she noted that it was her coach Maggie Haney who noticed it.

I do this thing where I guess I roll my ankles a lot, and she was just like, Stop moving, just breathe, Hernandez said. And as soon as I did that, it was this whole calmness in my body.

Hernandez went on to post the highest beam score on the night at 15.5.

With one competition left for gymnasts to prove themselves to national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, Hernandez is where she wants to be. Biles and Raisman can say the same thing.

As Douglas works to regain her top form and prove she still belongs on the Olympic team and does so after switching which one of her coaches works with her on the podium at trials MyKayla Skinner is making a late push. She jumped to fourth place after finishing 10th in St. Louis, and is one of the United States top scorers on vault and the only one, aside from Biles, who competes two vaults.

Kocian and Locklear are as competitive as ever, too, and both represent a big step up from the next best American on the uneven bars.

The door could be closing on Maggie Nichols, however. Competing in her first all-around since arthroscopic knee surgery in April, Nichols, last years U.S. all-around runner up, fell off the balance beam in the third rotation and ended up in eighth place.

Nothing is official until Sunday night, though. And with the stakes higher than ever, Hernandez said the key will be to ignore them.

Me and all the girls, we were talking about, lets just pretend its the P&Gs, thats it, and you know its just another meet, Hernandez said. This will not change anything, youve just got to go out there and youve got to give it your all.

Chrs McDougall has covered the Olympic movement for TeamUSA.org since 2009, including the gymnastics national championships and Olympic Trials every year since 2011, on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc. He is based in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

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Source: http://www.teamusa.org/News/2016/July/09/Simone-Biles-Leads-Olympic-Trials-While-Gabby-Douglas-Falters

Friday, July 8, 2016

A timeline of El Chapo"s reign on the run

G$ Lil Ronnie - El Chapo (Music Video) Shot By: @HalfpintFilmz

Joaquin Archivaldo Guzman Loera, known as "El Chapo," was born in La Tuna, Badiraguato, Sinaloa, Mexico sometime in the 1950s. (Officials have released conflicting birth dates). In the 1970s, Guzman began his life of organized crime, working for prominent drug lords including Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, the leader of the Guadalajara cartel, who recruited Guzman in the 1980s.

Guzman"s mentor Felix Gallardo was arrested in 1989. At the time of his arrest, the powerful, sprawling Guadalajara Cartel was being split into individually-controlled factions. The faction under Guzman"s control became the Sinaloa Cartel, which in the ensuing years moved billions upon billions of dollars in marijuana, cocaine and heroin. It is during this time that Guzman"s activities were first detected by the United States.

El Chapo becomes famous

Years of warring between the Sinaloa and Tijuana Cartels came to a violent head in May of 1993 when gunmen from the Tijuana cartel opened fire on a car near the Guadalajara International Airport. They believed Guzman was hiding in the car, but it was actually Juan Jesus Posadas Ocampo, the Cardinal and Archbishop of Guadalajara.

Following Posadas Ocampo"s death, the Mexican government launched a manhunt to find his killers. In the process, pictures of Guzman were widely publicized for the first time. This public "outing" forced Guzman to flee to Guatemala. He reportedly paid a $1.2 million bribe to the Guatemalan military to protect him.

His luck runs out

In June 1993, Guzman was located and arrested by Guatemalan authorities near the Mexico-Guatemala border. While in prison, he bribed security guards for special treatment, took a mistress and continued to seamlessly oversee the workings of the Sinaloa Cartel. During this time, the Sinaloa Cartel expanded its influence into the trafficking of methamphetamine.

Daring prison escape

In January 2001, Guzman escaped the maximum security prison in Jalisco, Mexico, after bribing several prison employees. Guzman was wheeled out of the facility in a laundry cart and driven away by a prison maintenance worker. His escape started a years-long manhunt that spanned the entire country of Mexico.

His elusiveness during this time made him a legend. There were rumors of him walking fearlessly into restaurants, confiscating phones, and then paying for everyone"s bill before slipping out unscathed. A global intelligence expert told CNN in 2013 that El Chapo actively cultivated a strong (albeit false) "benevolent businessman" persona. Rumors of his ruthlessness and influence inspired folk songs and popular culture.

His continued evasion of the law and the growth of the Sinaloa Cartel led Guzman to be considered the most powerful drug lord in the world.

Years-long manhunt ends

After more than a decade on the run, Guzman was captured yet again in February 2014 at a hotel in Mazatlan, a beach resort town in his home state of Sinaloa. After his arrest, authorities say they were helped by the drug lord"s propensity to use intricate tunnel systems for both evading authorities and moving the massive quantities of drugs that made the Sinaloa Cartel so powerful.

Authorities said they had discovered a series of secret tunnels in the city of Culiacan, and one of the houses in the system was Guzman"s main local residence. Though he was able to avoid capture there, raids of the residence and the rest of the tunnel system eventually led authorities to Mazatlan, where Guzman had retreated.

He escapes again

Guzman"s second escape took only months, but this time he wasn"t wheeled out the prison"s doors. In July 2015, security cameras in Guzman"s cell at the maximum-security Altiplano federal prison caught Guzman entering the shower in his cell and never reappearing. Upon further examination, authorities found something remarkable and very, very on-brand for the kingpin: A nearly mile-long tunnel, complete with lighting, ventilation,and a modified motorcycle authorities think was used to move dirt and sand as the tunnel was being built.

A strange meeting with the stars

In perhaps one of the most bizarre twists of Guzman"s time on the run, the fugitive met with movie star Sean Penn and Mexican actress Kate del Castillo in October 2015, just months after his second escape.

Del Castillo is a well-known actress who portrayed a drug trafficker on the popular telenovela "La Reina del Sur" and also appeared on the U.S. television series "Weeds." In 2012, she wrote a controversial and compassionate message to El Chapo over Twitter telling him to "traffic in love." It was del Castillo who apparently brokered the 2015 meeting between Penn and Guzman.

After El Chapo was captured and Penn"s interview with the drug lord ran in Rolling Stone magazine, del Castillo told the media she was misled by Penn"s intentions.

The meeting wasn"t the first time Guzman had shown an interest in show business. Authorities have said Guzman"s efforts to have a biopic made of his life helped them track and eventually capture him for a third time.

Foiled again

In January 2016, Mexican authorities and members of Mexico"s navy conducted an early morning raid in the coastal city of Los Mochis in Sinaloa. Several of Guzman"s associates died in the raid, but Guzman himself was apprehended and promptly returned to the prison from which he had escaped in 2014.

Mexican officials were extremely pleased with his capture. "Mision cumplida (Mission accomplished)," Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted after the mission. "Quiero informar a los mexicans que Joaquin Guzman Loera ha sido detenido. (I want to inform the Mexican people Joaquin Guzman Loera has been detained)."

Guzman was taken back to the Altiplano prison, where he says guards inflicted "brutal torture" upon him by depriving him of sleep. The prison facility now boasts hundreds of new cameras and floors reinforced with steel rods.

Fighting extradition

Mexican officials say renovations at the Altiplano prison forced them to transfer Guzman to another facility: A prison in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Later that month, a Mexican judge approved the U.S. request to extradite Guzman. Guzman"s lead attorney tells CNN his legal team will appeal, and the process could take years to be resolved. The cartel kingpin faces federal charges in seven U.S. states. It"s not immediately clear when Guzman will be turned over to U.S. custody, but once he"s transferred, Guzman will be sent to Brooklyn to stand trial, U.S. officials have told CNN.

CNN"s Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/01/world/a-history-of-el-chapos-reign/

First Read: A Nation on Edge

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First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day"s most important political stories and why they matter.

A nation on edge

It"s been a tragic week in America. Police officers were caught on video killing African Americans in Louisiana and Minnesota. Then, during what had been a peaceful protest in Dallas over those deaths, snipers last night opened fire on 12 police officers, killing five. "It was the deadliest day for law enforcement since 9/11," per NBC News. And it"s all put this nation on edge -- and looking to its elected leaders and presidential candidates. President Obama, who is in Poland for the NATO summit, has addressed these tragedies twice in the span of 12 hours. Around 6:30 pm ET last night, he discussed the two African Americans who had died. And at 5:00 am ET this morning, Obama condemned the sniper shooting in Dallas, calling it a "vicious, calculated, and despicable attack on law enforcement." Also this morning, Donald Trump tweeted, "Prayers and condolences to all of the families who are so thoroughly devastated by the horrors we are all watching take place in our country." Hillary Clinton, who already has spoken out against the killing of the two African Americans, has postponed a planned rally with Joe Biden but still plans to attend a convention of the AME Church Friday, where she had been set to discuss the earlier shootings. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings offered this advice on MSNBC"s "Morning Joe" for all politicians: watch your words.

Three ways Republicans could dump Trump in Cleveland

The Republican convention begins in 10 days, and it"s highly likely that it plays out like all modern conventions -- as a coronation for Donald Trump. But there"s also a chance that GOP delegates opposed to Trump could create an uprising that could jeopardize his nomination, even though Trump currently holds 1,541 delegates according to NBC"s count, more than the 1,237 needed for a majority. Here are three ways these opponents could dump Trump in Cleveland.

Unbinding the delegates: As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week, anti-Trump rebels are hoping to win over 28 of the 112 Rules Committee members (25%) who will be meeting on Thursday next week to force the full convention to consider whether to unbind the delegates -- allowing them to vote for whomever they want. Republican super-lawyer Ben Ginsberg explains that there"s a higher concentration of Trump loyalists on the Rules Committee than on the floor, so if anti-Trump forces can get 28 votes to force a minority report, the vote on the floor could be interesting. "I think there is a chance, but it"s a remote one," Ginsberg said Thursday on MSNBC.
Requiring a supermajority to capture the nomination:There"s a significant downside to this push to unbind the delegates: It essentially invalidates the five months of Republican primaries and caucuses used to choose the delegates. And many of these GOP leaders could find this move unseemly and undemocratic. So another way to stop Trump at the convention would be for the Rules Committee to vote to require a supermajority -- instead of a simple majority -- to win the GOP nomination.
Allowing delegates to abstain: A third way how anti-Trump delegates could dump Trump is by abstaining from their vote to keep Trump below the 1,237 number needed for a majority on the roll-call vote. Ginsberg says that whether a delegate can abstain from his or her vote on a first ballot is likely to come down to a ruling by the chair.

The smart bet is that none of scenarios is successful. Most Republican delegates, by nature, aren"t rebels. They"re go-along-get-along party leaders who probably aren"t eager to overturn the will of the voters. But keep an eye on two things over the next week: 1) whether Trump continues to veer off message, and 2) poll numbers in key Senate races. If these delegates are 100% convinced Trump would be a down-ballot disaster for Republicans, watch out starting Thursday.

Veepstakes Watch

Check out the latest installment of VP Watch here NBC"s Monica Alba reports that Hillary Clinton is ramping up her search, with intensive meetings with top aides at her Washington home Thursday Elizabeth Warren is urging progressives to keep up opposition to TPP Bernie Sanders praised Warren, but was cool on Tim Kaine in an interview with Bloomberg Politics Kaine headlined a fundraiser for Clinton NBC"s Kelly O"Donnell reported that Chris Christie will travel with Donald Trump on his trip to Florida Christie won"t have to give up his personal cell phone to two former officials who say it would help them in their defense in Bridgegate charges Mike Pence urged Cruz to back Donald Trump, though Cruz stopped short of an endorsement POLITICO reports on Trump"s consideration of former DIA head Michael Flynn NJ.com reports that Trump is "unlikely" to pick Christie Newt Gingrich said on FOX last night that if offered the job "Callista and I would feel compelled to serve the country."

On the trail

Both Clinton and Trump have called off major campaign events in the wake of the Dallas shootings, although Clinton is still planning to address a convention of the African Methodist Episcopal church in Philadelphia. Don"t forget to check out the political unit"s rolling minute-to-minute coverage of all the latest 2016 developments at the On the Trail liveblog at NBCNews.com.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-nation-edge-n605866